Something Unexplainable
by Beckon
Summary: She had to admit that the so-called relationship between her and the Wyvern Rider was… a little more.
1. Chapter 1

"I see the 'Great Demon' isn't wearing her horns today."

The remark caught the tip of her attention as she eventually stopped in mid-step and turned back around to see the source of the voice. She was in the middle of something right now, she couldn't exactly just stop for a mere conversation. Then again, the sight of who the voice belonged to made her reconsider that option for just this brief moment. The corners of her lips turned downward for a moment as her eyes narrowed on the white-winged figure who walked at a steady pace towards her; his expression changed to mimic her own almost as he carried on with the same frown and slimming of the eyes.

"And how do you know I didn't leave them in some poor sucker's back?"

A sense of amusement seemed to strike him as he offered her a brief chuckle at the remark. "That is correct, I'm sure you're just waiting for them to grow back at this point."

There was a small wrinkle that made its way across the bridge of her nose as she waited for him to catch up to her position before she carried on her way. "Well, I'm certain you didn't come here to trade words of evil with me, so what is there that I can assist you with? Not that I really wish to in the first place."

"Oh, don't worry, I didn't come to speak with you either, in fact if I really wished to I wouldn't have come in this general direction either." he returned. "I was dropping in to visit with Leanne and Father for awhile, and Tibarn insisted that I come and speak with the Apostle as well while I was here. I don't see what kind of good would come from it but he seemed pretty adamant about it."

She gave a light nod at his answer and tried to slow her steps down to match his pace. The outside pathway offered a brilliant glimpse of the morning sun that shined through the open designs that carved the overhanging balcony above them; casting shadows across the smooth tiles underfoot that formed a variety of shapes to follow. The support beams that appeared every five yards or so were wrapped tightly with ivy that appeared more as a decoration rather than a lack of proper lawn care on this half of the castle. A soothing morning breeze kept catching the ends of her tunic and moving them across her thighs; her thin stockings did little against the cooling winds but they were more refreshing than chilling. "I know your standing on it, so I'll try to keep my words to myself. However, I will admit, I'm impressed by your subtle improvement through the years."

"I don't really have anything to say so I'm not expecting to stay long." he continued.

Despite the relaxed relationship and the acts of forgiveness between Begnion and what was left of the Heron Tribe, she knew the younger Prince still had a difficult time accepting it. While he had seemed open to forgive and willing to let the past rest, there were moments where he still held a bit of a stand-offish attitude about the whole matter; more namely so, towards the Apostle herself. She had, at first, seen it as him just being arrogant and acting out- they had shared their moments of heated arguments and rushed words. It was only when the Mad King's War had forced them to interact more than she was willing to do, that their attitudes towards one another changed. She supposed they had learned more about one another than they originally wanted, but in the end it seemed for the greater good. He understood that she had served the Apostle since the younger girl's birth; she served as Captain to the Holy Guards and fought alongside Commander Sigrun to ensure the best security available across Tellius. She had even stepped away from that post to serve as a guide for Begnion in other military units. She did what she had to, to ensure both Begnion's sovereignty and the Apostle's honor. There wasn't an inch of skin on her body that she didn't risk for her country.

He admitted that when she put it into that kind of light, he could understand why she acted so defensively all the time.

And that's when he explained that even though he might've been young at the time, he remembered everything from that night. He remembered hearing all the screams and not knowing which direction they were coming from; the scent of smoke even now still made him nauseous because of the fires. The memories of blood and fallen bodies were etched in the back of his mind, the faint images of friends and family were slowly replaced with the sight of broken limbs, crimson-stained clothing and empty eyes. The sound of soldiers shouting still came into play sometimes and he was still uneasy around some of the Begnion guards; he recounted one moment that brought a hand axe dangerously close to him and left a scar on his right shoulder. It was just a small price to pay though.

It was her turn then to admit that she could understand his reasoning.

They had both been wrong on the matter and were both willing to admit it at least.

So when conversation topics such as these came up, they were able to hold a decent measure of respect toward the other. It hadn't been easy to do at first but they eventually worked their way up to this step and they were both surprisingly alive.

"That's a shame, we haven't gotten the chance to catch up lately." she replied, taking measured steps around the slight bend in the pathway; working her way back towards the opened courtyard that formed a majority of the space behind the palace.

Again, while they came from two completely different backgrounds and were polar opposite of one another, they had their moments sometimes. During the Mad King's War, she had been put in charge of defending him, which only seemed to aggravate the Heron, but he had learned to set the emotion aside. She was surprised when he managed to save her from a brutal encounter with a steel poleax when his eyes detected movement far before hers did. Her slower reaction during one fight ended with blood staining his white robes from the tip of a sword blade moving across his arm; she had tried to joke about the wound to ease her own sense of worry and remarked that it was bound to lower his resale value; he told her she was terrible company and that he didn't want to speak with her again that night.

"There's nothing really new." he assured with a light chuckle. "Besides I'm sure your day is busy enough without me."

"I'm picking up a package for the Apostle and then I'm checking to see if Commander Sigrun has anything for me, other than that, there's nothing else for me today." she answered; listening as he seemed to give into another short laugh at her remark. "And just what's so funny?"

"Nothing just… as a word of advice when you go to pick up this order, be sure to sign off on the delivery, and not just on his package."

Her eyes narrowed once more as a brief pause in her step highlighted her sense of… possibly surprise and irritation at his comment. She watched as he slowly continued on his way and headed towards the pair of double doors that would lead to the inside of the palace. "Prince Reyson, what kind of woman do you take me for?'

"I never would've taken you for a woman to begin with, Lady Tanith."

While the relationship between the Heron Prince and herself remained purely platonic and they shared their rare afternoons of conversations and play, she had to admit that the so-called _relationship_ between her and the Wyvern Rider was… a little more.


	2. Chapter 2

One hand moved to push through his darkened hair, feeling the way the midday sun had managed to burn down to his scalp. His lazy eye dropped down to where the clouds seemed to skim the rounded toes of his boots and appeared to be half-engulfing the black Wyvern beneath him. The creature moved with such grace, with every wing movement shifting into smooth transitions again and again; the dragon's head seemed to be moving slowly up and down in some rhythm as it guided itself through the empty sky. He could feel the heavy box behind him half pressing and digging into his spine in an uncomfortable manner but it gave him some support when he leaned back; offering a nice post to nap against.

This morning he had woken up in Daein and now he was making his way to Begnion, hopefully he'd be in Gallia before nightfall but that would be stretching it a bit. It felt like he hardly ever stopped in Begnion for just a few moments and left immediately afterwards, but he always seemed to waste hours there without actually knowing how it happened. So… Gallia would probably have to wait until morning. He was sure Ranulf wouldn't mind if his package was late- the Cat had probably already forgotten about it now.

"I hope you're not falling asleep over there."

He snapped up slightly at the remark and looked to find the source of it; he swore to the Goddess he was alone just before he slightly dozed off. An extra set of wings dropped in next to him and he watched as a green-scaled Wyvern opened its massive jaw into a brief yawn before snapping its teeth back together. Its red-haired rider flashed him a quick grin that only said that she knew about his sleeping habits and wasn't the least bit surprised that she had woken him up; in fact, he was fairly certain she had been following him and waiting to do just that. A brief chuckle crossed his lips and he shook his head at the girl. "Jill, one of these days, I'm going to knock you out of the air."

"Good morning to you as well, Haar."

Shaking his head, he looked back to the empty sky in front of him and figured a little extra company wouldn't hurt. "Where are you headed exactly? Aren't you supposed to be governing Talrega instead of taking a joyride up here?"

The woman offered a meek grin and seemed to laugh his question off. "Ah well… I got some of my assistants to handle it for a little while during my absence. I haven't gone for a joyride in such a long time, not to mention it wouldn't hurt if someone here got some exercise." she noted; leaning forward to pat the Wyvern's slender neck underneath her.

"Yeah, you are putting on some weight there." he noted; watching the way she seemed to snap around to him. "Aw jeez, move any faster there and you're going to snap your neck. But… seriously, what are you doing here? It couldn't just be mere coincidence that you ran into me."

She huffed slightly and turned away for a moment. "You were always quite the gentleman, weren't you Haar?"

"I just don't want to see your Wyvern get hurt." he continued before he pulled on the reigns to dodge her when she brought her dragon in to bump into his own. "Okay, okay… I'll stop if you answer my question."

There was a brief down turn on the corners of her lips as she thought the exchange over in the back of her mind before eventually choosing to go his way. "Fine. I was just on my way to Gallia. On diplomatic business."

He gave a light nod in approval and didn't press it- not bothering to remind her that Talrega wasn't exactly the biggest city on the map so there wasn't a need to be diplomatic about it. But he wasn't going to press for details because he already knew she lied to him. "Alright, well pass on my greetings to Lethe when you meet her."

She frowned once more at his remark but chose to toss it aside this time. "Where are you headed this time? Looks like someone out there's keeping you busy."

"Nah, just a few deliveries for the Apostle… because, you know, flying back to Begnion is one of my favorite things to do." he answered with a stiff sense of sarcasm. "I just gotta drop these packages off and hopefully get over to Gallia before nightfall- but you know how they run customs in Begnion."

"Well, I can take the package for Gallia since I'm headed over there anyways… that way you wouldn't have to worry about being late." Jill offered. "And you can spend more time in Begnion since I know how much you love it there."

He narrowed his eye briefly at the woman's joke but considered her open offer. "I don't know… I wouldn't want to interfere with your 'diplomatic business.'"

"Oh shut up and just hand me the package."

"Alright, alright, let me figure out which one it is." he chuckled as he turned briefly to sort through the bag at his side that contained a few smaller boxes; retrieving the one he had marked with a piece of blue fabric to separate it from the others. "Here, this goes to Ranulf and- well, the information's written down on the side. Just tell him he can sign for it later."

She leaned over in her saddle to managed to tip the box from his hand and into her own. "Jeez, this is kind of heavy, what did he order?"

"I don't know, it could be catnip for all I care."

"Well you have my word that he'll get this in one piece." Jill replied as she tucked the box away into a bag that hung down by her leg. "And if not, then I'll make up some kind of exaggerated story about how it got tragically lost in a windstorm or something."

"Look at that, you're already thinking like a Governor." Haar offered, moving to dodge yet another swipe from the woman. "Jeez, give me a break here… I do have to fly to Begnion and deal with all of these packing hassles with Lady Tanith. She's probably going to swear up a storm about me being late and not focused and not being on task- because that's how Begnion always runs."

A light chuckle escaped the red-haired woman as she watched him seemingly frown as he spoke of the dark-haired, Captain to the Holy Guards. Needless to say, the two didn't always get along during the war when times forced them to work side-by-side to one another; it would seem like the woman was purposely going at his throat every few minutes while he retaliated in the same manner. Sometimes it was humorous to see… and sometimes it was frightening enough that someone had to step in and stop them- although no one ever quickly stepped up to that position of peacemaker. She kind of thought it was funny to witness and it got even funnier when Lethe encountered the sight for the first time; she remembered the Laguz Commander asking if that was how Beorc couples flirted with one another, like how birds would perform mating dances to a possible mate. She couldn't remember her answer now, but it was probably the wrong one- hilarious but wrong.

"Ah yes, well I do hope you enjoy your visit with your 'Great Demon.'"

He glanced over to the woman and caught the grin she shot in his direction before she took a nosedive downward and disappeared into the clouds below; heading off into her own direction elsewhere. He didn't even get a chance to evaluate her words… but now that he looked them over, there was probably something to have been said- or at least corrected.

_His_ Great Demon?


	3. Chapter 3

She felt a slight frown settle on her lips as she watched the black Wyvern pass overhead in the distance, more than likely landing on the West Courtyard- as always. Shaking her head, she passed through the iron gateway in front of her and made her way across the half-flourishing gardens that decorated the back of the palace. She held no sense of liking the colorful flowers and their thriving bushels, in fact most of the time their playful scents made her sick to her stomach. It was almost impossible to see how Commander Sigrun enjoyed her brief moments of free time in this general area… then again, the woman had habits that appeared strange to her; just as well, someone would remark that the Commander was probably more feminine natured as well.

Hands shoved aside the next gate opening as soon as she was through with the winding, cobblestone trail that could go on throughout the entire gardens if one was not minding their steps. A few of the palace guards nodded to her when she passed by as they slowly returned to their given post, more than likely in the middle of a shift exchange anyways. It was a slightly exaggerated walk around to the West Courtyard that allowed for her to experience the common sights of buggies being pulled to and from the castle as minor Captains took care of weapon count and supplies; it would seem ridiculous to keep up such artillery even after two wars but… they weren't going to take their chances. There were still the acts of minor skirmishes here or there that called for their attention.

One hand moved to brush aside her lingering brown strands as she walked into the open area of the given courtyard; eyes barely taking note of the elegant furniture that was scattered around or even of the marble fountain that pumped water during all hours. She just had to settle her sights on the black-armored Wyvern rider who had just landed moments before and was currently unpacking boxes from the back of the beast. The dragon-like creature must've been trained well seeing as it didn't bother to move and merely laid down in rest; allowing for his rider to move his parcels around with ease.

One could not deny that… he was a fairly good-looking man.

His midnight-black armor was hard to miss and always seemed to serve as a beacon on the battlefield; she remembered watching him as a black blur running across the skyline, his dull armor catching only a few hints of sunlight to keep him mostly hidden from his enemies. From the ground, he would've just seemed like a mere shadow… She didn't think he was all that quick, especially with a lumbering beast like that, but he was coordinated enough to pull off rather flashy moves. She supposed he deserved some credit though, it couldn't have been easy to train such an unbalanced creature.

Pushing herself across the courtyard, she watched as he moved to unload the last box, which in turn kept his back to her. She could've just left without him so much as noticing her, but she supposed it wouldn't hurt either of them to at least recognize one another's presence for once.

"You're late."

There was that voice.

The same one that sent cold shivers down his spine every time he heard it.

A heavy sigh escaped him as he moved to stack the last package on the ground below before he turned his attention to her. For a small, slender woman, it was hard to believe that she could put half of Begnion into a sheer panic at her approach… but he had witnessed her attitude firsthand and realized that it wasn't so difficult to believe after all. One would think that for such a high-ranking Officer though, she could afford to wear an uniform that was a little more appropriate; he supposed the thin stockings and tunic was all her swaybacked Pegasus could handle though.

"Good morning to you too, Lady Tanith."

A small frown caught the corners of her lips before she moved to cross her arms over her chest. "I'm assuming that 'pet' of yours needed a break or two."

"Well, maybe if you would stop ordering bricks, he'd stop breaking his back trying to carry all these boxes." he retorted easily enough, resting one hand on top of one of the larger boxes as he leaned in against it.

"For your information, they're priceless glass pieces and antiques from Gallia and Daein alike." Tanith explained as she moved to remove his hand from the box, disturbing his sense of balance for a moment. "It would be upsetting for Apostle Sanaki to retrieve a gift that had been broken during transport."

"Yes well, you're welcome, I know how gracious you are that I set back a few of my other scheduled deliveries so I could get these here on the date you requested." he remarked, a touch of sarcasm on the tip of his tongue.

"I paid you well for the change, I see nothing that's worth complaining about."

"I don't think 'paid well' and 'threatened' fall into the same category, but I don't really have time to argue with you right now. Believe it or not, I've got a full schedule marked down for the day." Haar replied, fingers moving to pinch the empty space between his eye and eyepatch for a moment.

She frowned once more before fingers moved to the take the loose paper he had tossed onto one of the shorter boxes; her orders had been neatly written down with a bold line highlighting where she needed to sign her name. "Well I guess that's something we have in common then. My schedule's full as long as Prince Reyson is here and even when he's ready to depart, I'll have my duties to continue." taking the utensil he had tossed aside, she drew out a long, elegant signature before she offered the papers back to him; watching as he folded them and tucked them into a side bag on his saddle.

"In that case then, do you want to join me for a drink?"

"I'd love to."


End file.
